River of Gold Viking River Cruise
Day 9: Saturday, November 16, 2024 - Pinhão, Portugal
The day's statistics:
- Weather: upper 50s to low 60s, early rain
- Steps: 5,486 Linda; 8,721 Steve
- Miles traveled (approximately): 54
The morning routine was typical today.
While getting ready, saw this out the window.
At 8:30, we were gathered and ready to go on our excursion, called Favaios Bakery & Lunch at Quinta Avessada.
On the way to the town, we saw some interesting sights though it was overcast and not too many shots came out while
we were on the moving bus.
This town is the "Capital of Moscato [wine]". As much of the available landspace is used that they even put grape
vines on the roundabout.
The bus parked almost across the street, and we headed inside the Favaios Bread and Wine Museum.
Vanessa gave us a tour of some of the highlights of the museum.
We heard about the making of moscatel (aka moscato) wine, and the fact that there are 30 to 35 million bottles made
each year - though most are only 25ml. Moscatel is also a fortified liquor, though a table wine is also made.
Rather than rewrite a whole lot of information about moscatel, I'll just drop these here.
After the wine portion, we learned about the town's making of four-corners bread, which is made by 8 bakeries in town
with five of those still making the bread traditionally. Each day there are hundreds of loaves of this bread made.
The bread is baked in long pine wood ovens, and the tools that are also very long. The dough making and shaping technique
was traditionally passed down from mother to daughter, though some of the sons are starting to get in on the making.
The bread is in the shape it is so it can be easily split into two, and shared.
Someone donated a large styrofoam model of one of the loaves.
The museum was about five rooms large, essentially in a circle. It didn't take too long for the tour and we headed out to the bus.
The bus was across the street near a small parking area with a cute Renault 4 GLT.
The next stop was at the bottling coop.
We saw the staging area where the grapes are weighed. There were pallets of small bottle for the wine
(pictured with a Euro coin for size comparison)
The tour continued inside the storeroom with numerous stainless steel vats in it, each containing between 25 to 30 thousand
liters of wine.
Next door was the aging room where the oak vats held the wine, the larger ones containing 43 thousand liters.
And we had a moscato toast inside before heading out.
We walked a little to a shop in front by the road for a technical break.
Then we walked down the street and up an alleyway to Casa das Padeiras.
There was a tasting room with a bakery oven, where we were given a bread making demo. The local guide was Gabriella.
The baker formed a loaf in just twelve seconds.
The pictures on the wall were the areas bakers.
We enjoyed a sampling of the bread with spreads and dipping oil, and then headed out.
The bus waited for us as it could NOT negotiate the narrow roads in this area.
Our next stop was at Quinta Da Avessada (Portugese for "Upside Down Farm") for lunch, about a half hour away.
The bus headed out, eventually driving down a narrow oneway road on the Wine Cellar ("Qavessa Da Enoteca") grounds.
The grounds overlooked some of the vineyard, and the pond in front was in the shape of a wine glass.
We went inside to find a large room with table for two bus loads of Viking travelers.
There was water, wine, salads, cheese and breads already on the table.
We had a multi-course meal that included appetizers; soup (pasta and vegetables);
beef, cabbage, and roasted veggies (not pictured); dessert; and chestnuts.
There was even an accordian player walking about every so often playing different tunes, such as this part of one.
We finished our great meal, and then headed out, grabbing a selfie along the way.
Out exit was routed through the barn next to the restaurant where there were vats with aging wine.
We boarded the bus and headed back to the ship, passing quite a bit of agriculture and vineyards, and other countrysides.
A bit after 3:00 we were back at the ship, temporarily docked at Folgosa.
We returned to our cabin to relax for a bit, and before long - about 4:00 - we were going through the Lock of Bagauste.
At about 5:00 we arrive in Régua.
At 6:00 we gathered in the lounge for a Viking Explorers (returning passengers) cocktail party.
An entire array of mixed drinks was set up for us to take one and try.
At 6:45 it was time for the port talk.
7:00 brought dinner.
We sat with Judy and Gary.
Linda had grilled sardine toasts, Greek eggplant moussaka timbale, and apple tarte tatin.
I had white bean soup, peri peri chicken, and apple tarte tatin.
We returned to our cabin with our glasses of wine, relaxed a bit, washed up, and went to bed.